Posted on: Thursday, March 3, 2005

Law brings order to Hilo hoops

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Before he got the keys to the head coach's office at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo in 1998, Jeff Law heard chapter and verse on the legend of Vulcan basketball and its heyday of nearly two decades earlier.

Perhaps not until these last couple months, however, did he begin to really grasp what it all meant.

That's when the now playoff-bound Vulcans began to make the run that has resulted in a 24-3 record, a No. 9 NCAA Division II ranking and a return of the red-clad crowds of more than 2,000 at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

On the softball field and around town these days, "Some of the old-timers say it reminds them of the teams of the late 1970s and early '80s," Law said. "That's a nice thing to hear, knowing how well Coach (Jimmy) Yagi's teams were thought of. I take that to heart."

Take it from the man himself, the 70-year-old Yagi, whose teams went 218-87 between 1976 and 1985: "There has been a real upsurge in Vulcan basketball. It is something to see."

It has been a while in coming for the Vulcans, who hadn't had a 20-win season since 1987-88. Until Law's third season, 2000-01, UH-Hilo had three coaches but just one winning campaign in 11 years.

Law could have ignored the past or attempted to flee the long shadow of expectation that has hung over every coach who followed Yagi. Instead, he embraced it.

He has picked Yagi's brain and profited from his experience. "It was like being at UCLA and having John Wooden around," Law said of the resource that has been Yagi's presence at practices and his assistance at games, where he charts plays and offers analysis.

But, then, it has been an all-in-the-ohana kind of season for the Vulcans, too. Back in October, when Justin Griffin sat out to work on academics and Joe Travis underwent knee surgery, the Vulcans nervously faced a season without their two top returning scorers.

"I was really scared because I had no idea how this was all going to shake out," Law said. "But piece by piece, the team has come together. We always seem to have a game where somebody steps up and does a little more than, maybe, I expected. Somebody gets 12 rebounds or goes 7-of-8 shooting."

The only downer of late has been that the Vulcans, despite the better record and national ranking, might get passed over as West Region Championship host March 12 to 15 in favor of 18th-ranked Western Washington (20-5).

"I hope we get to host because it would be great for all the people who have supported the Vulcans," Law said. "They've waited a long time for something like this. They deserve it."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.